GasBuddy News Article

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Why Do European Cars Get Better MPG Than US Cars?

Jalopnik
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The European market has many more small, fuel-efficient car models than we get in America, but even European versions of international cars like the Jetta are rated at higher MPG numbers. We can explain why.

This question came up when Consumer Reports slammed Ford's Ecoboost motors and downsized turbo engines in general.

.. Part of that is that Imperial gallons are different than US gallons. 1 US gallon = .83 Imperial gallons. 45 US MPG = 54 Imp MPG. Or, 65 Imp MPG = 54 US MPG.

My Golf TDI gets right at 50 (US) on the highway, so it's right in the middle.

We would also point out that European cars don't go through the same tests as American cars do. The EPA's test attempts to mimic American driving conditions, while European cars go through a more European test.

Europeans also drive more stick shift / manual transmissions. And the EPA is always "ESTIMATED" - a nice way of saying, "we don't really care how much mpg the vehicle gets, we just run a few tests on a testing stand and extrapolate. Since we do that for everyone, it should do the trick..."

Is that where all our extra corn goes, or don't they use ethanol? Our winter blend here gives me 10-15% less mpg depending on the temps, the colder the worse the mileage. Our restrictions are killing our economy as well as the ethanol killing our cars.

It is the result of a vast number of differences starting with the fact the Europeans lies are bigger and better than the average American fibs. Ever notice the World record for everything is European since the USSR has gone out of biz.

Another major factor with European cars getting better gas mileage is that the average person needs the car to get the highest mileage possible, gas prices are considerably higher in Europe than they are here, Most of their cars are standard transmissions which get better mileage and because they look for smaller lighter cars they don't load them up with options that add weight, Europeans don't live in their cars, they don't need to take their living room on the road with them.

Another issue is that while European clean air standards are catching ours.. they are still not as tight. Therefore... european engines do not have to labor under an enectronic shroud of sensors and valves to maintain clean air. Less labor = better mileage.

My VW Jetta wagen (with diesel) is large enough for my family of 4 to travel in. Granted, this isn't a month long trip with associated baggage but big enough for a weekend or week long road trip. Plus, I get better than 45 MPG all day long on road trips.